2022 Domaine Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet

Note: from 8 different lieux-dits though Les Meix, located just below Pucelles, is the largest contributor. A more floral-suffused nose, and in particular, acacia and carnation, are complemented by notes of spicy green apple and essence of pear. The sleeker, but not denser, medium weight flavors possess a highly appealing underlying tension and more sophisticated texture, all wrapped in a seductive yet quite punchy finale. This is also seriously good for its level and worth checking out.*Burghound Outstanding Top Value!*

Aromas of pear, orange oil, toasted nuts and white flowers introduce the 2022 Puligny-Montrachet Village. With a medium to full-bodied, satiny and fleshy palate and lively acids, it has nice back-end grip. Benoît Riffault is pleased with his 2022s, and with reason, as it numbers among his finest vintages to date. His harvest dates were more or less the same as in 2020, which is to say, relatively speaking, a little earlier, and that translates to impeccable balance across the board. But what are the rudiments of winemaking at this address today? Hand-harvested fruit is pressed without crushing, the press cycle lasting around three and a half hours and performing "quite a few," which is to say more than 20, rotations. The must is sulfited at the end of the press and settled for 24 hours, but Riffault retains most of the lees, fermenting in wood with ambient yeasts. Larger formats, including foudres, now complement 228-liter Burgundian barrels. The wines are racked to tank in July-August before the new vintage, whereas the premiers and grands crus spend as much as six months on their lees before bottling. All of Sauzet's wines are bottled with high-quality unbleached and unwaxed natural cork. (WK)